


Frostling

by Yevynaea



Category: Rise of the Guardians (2012)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-02-21
Updated: 2013-02-21
Packaged: 2017-12-03 04:06:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,283
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/693917
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Yevynaea/pseuds/Yevynaea





	1. Chapter 1

Pitch grinned as his creation began to take shape, the dark sand swirling into the form of a body. It began to look more and more humanoid, until the nightmare sand solidified into skin, with a grayish blue tint in the pale complexion. Curled up in a ball on the ground, Pitch's teenaged child let its short hair fall into its eyes. Pitch threw a raggedy blanket over the naked form, triumphantly grinning as more nightmare sand formed a simple black wooden staff that clattered to the ground.  
Shadowy silver frost spread out from under the blanket, covering the ground around Pitch's creation as the child took a first, shaky breath. The creature looked up, revealing mischievous yellow eyes, with green and silvery blue around the outside.  
Jack Frost refused me, all those months ago. Pitch thought darkly as he watched his nightmare child take its first look at the world. But this Jack won't. This is my son, my creation.  
The creature sat up, pulling the blanket tight around itself, and Pitch felt his grin fade. This couldn't be right. The teenager's face wasn't that of the impish boy. Well, it was, almost, but with one major difference. This creature was a girl.  
Pitch shook his head as he looked at the dark creation. No matter. This was still his child; his...daughter. He reached out to help the girl stand. She smiled up at him, and he saw in her eyes the same childish mischief that Jack had, but there was something else as well. In her eyes there was a darkness that made Pitch feel as if he were staring at himself.  
"Papa." The girl greeted with a curt nod. Pitch grinned. He sent her off to get dressed, and she came back in clothes nearly identical to Jack's. He had made a few color adjustments, obviously.  
"What is your name?" He quizzed. He had used Jack's memories to create the child, maybe her identity was still somewhat like that of the boy.  
The girl looked as if she were about to answer, but suddenly she looked around as if remembering something for the first time. "My staff." She said with a smile, picking the object in question up off the ground and leaning against it the same way as the original Frost always did. She looked at her father as if waiting for him to say something.  
"You never answered me." Pitch pointed out, leaning over her with his hands clasped behind his back. "What is your name?"  
The girl grinned darkly up at her Papa, her yellow eyes flashing brighter. She tilted her head deviously before answering, "Jack Frost."

Two Days Later:

White swirls of icy frost covered the streets and rooftops, and Jack grinned as he flew high above the snow covered city. He dropped like a stone over the park, and the wind saved him just before he hit the ground. Jack froze over a fountain, tapping his staff against the ice and spreading more frost over the surface before perching contentedly atop the ice covered fountain. The snow fell lightly, in tiny flakes, and one alighted gently on his waiting fingertip before blowing away again.  
Jack flew down the park pathway, freezing every tree in his path before returning to the busy city streets. Shouting with joy, the teen went from building to building, leaving snowy gusts of wind and intricate spirals of frost in his wake. He stopped to watch two friends having a snowball fight in their backyard, laughing heartily as one kid nailed the other in the face. Then he noticed something peculiar. A small frost pattern was forming on a tree trunk in the next yard over. But it wasn’t Jack’s.  
Leaping over to the tree with ease, he looked at the dark silvery ice crystals on the tree trunk curiously. They seemed to be spiraling downwards from above, and when Jack looked up his jaw dropped. Smirking down at him from in the tree’s shady bows was a girl. She waved at him with her free hand while drawing her staff against the wood of the tree.  
“What the-” Bewildered, Jack jumped up into the tree and crouched in front of the girl. He was astonished to find that looking at her was like looking in a mirror. A strange, warped mirror. The girl was pale, like him, and her hair was exactly the same style as his own, but it was black instead of white. She wore a black hoodie covered with frost identical to the frost on his own, plain grey pants, and no shoes. Her staff, though made of darker wood, was the spitting image of Jack’s own. But most startling were her eyes. A bright yellow shade, with blue and green bits on the outside. Eyes that he had seen before. This strange girl’s eyes were without question the eyes of Pitch Black.  
“Hi.” The girl waved a hand in front of Jack’s face, breaking him from his thoughts. Defensive, Jack backed away from her, staff gripped tightly in his hands.  
“Who are you?” He demanded with narrowed eyes, backing up another step as the girl came closer.  
“The name’s Jack Frost.” She grinned, holding a hand out to him. When he didn’t take it, she shrugged and let her arm drop.  
“Ha ha.” Jack said, not amused. “I’m Jack Frost.”  
“And so am I.” The girl took an extravagant bow, still staring at him. With Pitch’s eyes. Jack shuddered as the thought ran through his mind again.  
“Did Pitch make you?” He finally asked, and the girl’s smirk vanished, replaced by a scowl.  
“Yes.” She finally mumbled. “But he hates me. He didn’t want me. He was trying to duplicate you, and...something went wrong.” The girl gestured to her young but womanly physique.  
“Hmph.” Jack grunted, still wary of the girl.  
“So I came to find you. And the other Guardians. I knew you could help me get away from him. Will you help?” The girl finished, brushing her hair away from her face. There was desperation in her eyes, but Jack was still unsure.  
“Why would Pitch be trying to duplicate me?” He asked, a bit perplexed.  
“He wants company.” The girl shrugged. “Plus, he thinks that if he had a being with your power at his command, he would have a better chance of defeating the Guardians. After all,” She leaned in closer to Jack as if to tell him a secret. “What goes together better than cold, and dark?”  
Jack reeled back, and was about to ask her where she’d heard that, when she smiled, her eyes crinkling. “I’m you, remember? Or, sort of, anyway. Same memories.”  
Jack took a deep breath, weighing his options. He still didn’t trust this other Jack, but after a while he resolved to help her, which resulted in her smuggling him in an unexpected hug.  
“But you have to pick a new name. There can’t be two Jack Frosts.” He said with a small chuckle.  
“Jackie, then.” She replied simply, then followed him into the sky.  
Jackie Frost smirked as she followed Jack toward North’s workshop. This is even easier than I thought, She mused, Father will be so very happy.

❅❆❅❆❅

“North, please! Just hear her out!” Jack pleaded, but the larger Guardian only shook his head, seething with anger as he turned back toward the two Frosts. He had already called the others to the workshop, but only Sandy had shown up so far. The tiny gold man would only glare at Jackie, nodding in agreement whenever North said anything.  
“How could you do this, Jack?” North asked, his eyes both enraged and concerned. “You should know better than to ally yourself with one of Pitch’s nightmare creatures, especially one that’s...you. Imagine how easy it would be for her to betray us. In more ways than one.”  
“What are you trying to say?” Both Frosts said in unison, quite defensively, but before North could answer, a hole opened up in the middle of the floor and Bunnymund shot out of it. He saw North and Sandy first, both standing with their arms crossed over their chests, then turned around to see Jack and his double just the same.  
“What-” Bunnymund stopped himself, cleared his throat, and tried again. “Who’s this?”  
“Jackie Frost.” Jackie introduced herself to the rabbit, holding her hand out. He didn’t shake it.  
“Okay.” Bunny drew the word out with a slow nod of his head, trying to look calm but obviously about to lose it big time. “And would anyone like to explain exactly what is going on?!”  
“Pitch made her out of nightmare sand.” North explained, and Bunnymund jumped away from the girl as if she were contagious, holding one of his boomerangs tightly. Jack jumped in between them, staff ready, eyes narrowed. Sandy looked worried, but didn’t move.  
“Sorry I’m late, I had teeth to organize- oh!” Toothiana entered the room and her mouth froze in a little o shape as she stared at the scene in front of her. Eyes wide, she hovered there for a moment as North and Jack explained the situation. Jackie remained silent, eyes on the ground as the five Guardians argued what they should do, but although she wasn’t watching, she was listening. Every word that escaped their lips, she heard, and remembered. Except for Sandy, who wasn’t speaking but instead using his sand to speak.  
“She’s just trying to protect herself!” Jack said loudly after five minutes of bickering. This silenced all of them. Sandy’s dream sand stopped swirling into pictures and disintegrated. He still looked worried, as did Tooth. Bunny’s eyebrows were bunched together angrily, and North had his eyes closed and looked to be deep in thought.  
“Fine. She can stay here, but not without conditions.” He finally said, looking to the other Guardians. They nodded their content and waited along with Jackie to hear what was going to happen. “One, you will not leave this workshop.” He pointed at Jackie, and she nodded. “Two, you will go nowhere without an escort.”  
“You mean a guard.” She said under her breath, but she nodded her assent.  
“And third, if I catch either of you frosting the workshop there will be consequences.” North pointed at Jack, then at his twin.  
“Uh, wait, did you say ‘either of us’?” Jack asked incredulously. North nodded, smiling now.  
“You’re the one who brought her here; you get to be her escort for most of the time. The yetis will fill in for you if anything important comes up.” North turned his back, Tooth and Sandy following him with quick glances back at Jackie. Bunny stood and glared a moment more before turning his back and following the others. The Frosts were alone.  
How easy it would be to just kill you now, instead of waiting for Father, Jackie thought, watching the Guardians’ retreating forms with a sly grin. But when Jack turned to face her she quickly made the grin look genuine, wrapping her arms around him.  
“Thank you for helping me, Jack.” She said in a quiet, grateful voice.  
“Your welcome.” Jack said with a smile. He returned the hug, then released her and gestured toward the door. The two of them left the room together, swinging their staffs in unison and smiling the same smile.


	2. Chapter 2

Running a gentle finger across the wall, Jackie looked around. The corridor was empty save for her and Jack, and he was too caught up in his own thoughts to notice when she decorated the wall with tiny, crystalline frost. The black and silver frost patterns spread, spiraling out like Jack’s always did. She drew her hand back and hurried to keep up with her counterpart. They stopped in front of a large window with cushioned seats underneath it, and Jack sat down, looking at the winter wonderland outside.  
It had been eight days since she’d come to North’s workshop, and most of the Guardians had begun to trust her. They had set up a system so that at least two of them were in North’s workshop to keep tabs on her at all times, and by now they weren’t as cold as they had been at first. Jack and Tooth were still a bit cautious around her, but they were friendly, and Jack trusted her almost completely, which had North worried. Sandy smiled and waved in the hallways when she went by, (with an escort, of course) but he wasn’t exactly in a rush to be near her, which was only fair considering that the sand she had been conjured out of had almost destroyed him the previous year. North kept a close eye on her, and she had been reprimanded twice for leaving frost around the workshop, but even he was warming to her a bit. The only problem was Bunnymund. The rabbit had made it his priority to avoid her, scowling whenever they made eye contact and always on his toes, ready to attack if she made a wrong move.  
“You’re quiet.” Jack said, prodding her arm with his staff. From where they perched on the window seat, they could see endless snow going out over the horizon, and Jackie stared out at it with longing.  
“It’s boring in here after a while.” She said with a shrug. Jack thought for a second, his face scrunching up indecisively, before he finally stood.  
“Come on then, let’s go outside.” He said with a mischievous wink. Grinning widely, she followed him to the door, where a yeti stopped them with crossed arms. Irate, the yeti shook his head at them.  
“What are you doing, Jack?” North asked from behind them, and both Frosts’ shoulders slumped. “You’re supposed to be keeping Jackie inside.”  
“Well, I was doing that.” Jack said a bit sheepishly. “But we got bored.”  
“Too bad,” North scowled, “Boredom is better than danger. Don’t let her outside, and don’t take your eyes off her for a second. Do you understand?”  
With an exaggerated sigh, Jack nodded and led Jackie back to their window.  
“Sorry.” He said, freezing a couple of windowpanes and glancing apologetically at her. She shrugged.  
“It’s fine. We can have fun in here, right?” She smiled, but Jack shook his head.  
“I should probably go; London is due for some snow.” He smiled and started to walk away, ruefully looking over his shoulder as he called, “Be back soon. I’ll tell the yetis where you are.” Jackie nodded, sighing as he went away, off to have fun without her. All alone, Jackie contemplated sneaking to the globe room, where she could disable the magic barrier that kept Pitch from entering the workshop. Every Guardian’s home had been protected with the same barrier, just weeks after the battle that she knew from Jack’s memories. Jackie had been waiting for the perfect time to bring her Father into the workshop, to let him take his sorely wanted revenge, but she knew she had to wait for the right time, and this wasn’t quite it.  
Meanwhile... She thought, then she grinned as she leapt up and ran through corridor after corridor, covering everything with ice and frost, swinging her staff behind her and loving the sound of the tiny cracking of the ice as it spread. She knew that North would be furious, but after being cooped up so long, Jackie didn’t care. A group of elves slid uncontrollably across the slick floors as Jackie laughed, and she saw a yeti with a huge box of dolls slip on a particularly glassy spot, sending the dolls flying. Laughing at the chaotic noise of more yetis falling down behind her, Jackie rounded a sharp corner only to run straight into the Easter bunny himself.  
“Ow.” Bunnymund moaned as Jackie scrambled to her feet. Glowering at the girl, Bunny jumped up, boomerang in hand.  
“Sorry.” She tried to sidestep the rabbit, but he blocked her way.  
“You shouldn’t be alone.” He said, both angrily and suspiciously, and when he turned the corner to see everything ahead of him covered in a shadowy glaze, he got even angrier. “And you shouldn’t be doing this!” Jackie took a step back, raising her staff defensively, as Bunny raised his boomerang.  
“Bunny!” North boomed, approaching them quickly. His swords were in his hands, but he had them down by his sides.  
Bunnymund simply stepped aside for North to see the black-tinted ice in the next room, and when North saw how many toys had been broken or were now sopping wet in the melting ice, Jackie quickly found herself confined to a specifically out-of-the-way part of the workshop, on the top floor, where no toys were around to be ruined. Only extra supplies that they didn’t really need.  
Groaning with boredom on her third day “in confinement” as she described it, Jackie was wandering and freezing the same hallways repeatedly, finding nothing more interesting to occupy her time. How would she get Pitch inside from up here? Sighing, Jackie suddenly felt a presence behind her, and she whirled around to see the Sandman staring at her. She leaned against her staff, smiling.  
“What’s up, Sandy?” She asked, and his dream sand started swirling into emotive pictures. A piece of paper, then a quill, filling in empty bubbles on the page.  
“Uh, test?” Jackie asked, baffled. Sandy nodded, and the sand disappeared. Sandy pointed to himself, and the paper and quill reappeared above his head, then he pointed at Jackie. “You want to test me?” Sandy nodded. “Um, ok.” Jackie watched as Sandy conjured a simple image of a kitten with his golden sand. It crawled about on his arm, before curling up contentedly on his hand. Sandy poked it, then nodded at Jackie to do the same. Still a bit confused, Jackie obliged, and as soon as she touched the kitten, dark flecks of nightmare sand began spreading over its entire body, until it was a scrawny nightmare cat, fangs bared as it hissed at Sandy. He quickly tapped it again, and the effects of Jackie’s touch reversed, leaving an innocent kitten once more.  
Jaw open in surprise, Jackie fumbled for words. She supposed it shouldn’t shock her that she could do the same thing as Pitch, after all, she was made of nightmare sand. Why shouldn’t it spread from her? Curious, Jackie silently wondered if she had others of her Father’s powers. She and Pitch both had always just assumed that she had Jack Frost’s magic. Now it was turning out that she might have...both.  
Sandy’s eyes were worried, but he kept going, conjuring a friendly goldfish this time. But instead of having Jackie touch it, he mimed conjuring another, showing her that he wanted her to try making one. Again, the Frost girl did as he asked, but her fish turned out a terrifying black piranha, sharp teeth jutting out as it swam up to swallow Sandy’s fish whole. Jackie swiped at it, disintegrating it into specks of black sand that returned to her skin when she drew her hand back.  
“I’m sorry.” She told Sandy, shaking her head. “I think I’ve probably failed your test, haven’t I?”  
Sandy nodded, a remorseful smile on his face. After a second, he hesitated, then he held up a finger.  
“One more thing?” Jackie asked, and the Sandman nodded. He held his hand out, palm up, as if waiting for her to take it in her own. She shook her head violently.  
“You know what happens when dream sand touches nightmare sand.” She warned, but Sandy didn’t move to draw his hand back. Finally, with a deep breath, Jackie rolled up her hoodie sleeves, and grabbed his hand. For the first split second, nothing happened, then dark veins of sand started shooting up Sandy’s arm, and golden veins of sand started shooting up Jackie’s. The skin around the dream sand veins was beginning to look less like the skin of a girl and more like the skin of a fearling, and Jackie was both horrified and mesmerized by her appearance in true form. When Sandy suddenly jerked away, the dark sand in his arm retreated, diminishing into nonexistence. The gold sand in Jackie’s skin stopped spreading, but it did not draw back. Her skin solidified into real skin again, leaving glowing strands of gold trapped underneath that pulsated in time with her heartbeat. Exhaling shakily, Jackie held her arm close to her chest, while Sandy looked on with obvious anxiety.  
“W-what happened to me?” Jackie muttered, staring at her arm. Sandy shook his head; he didn’t know either. He looked sorry, and before Jackie could stop him he’d gone back down the stairs, leaving her alone again. Fear of this strange changing shot through her, and she stepped backwards, leaning against the shadowy wall.  
She wished she could just melt away and hide, and suddenly there was a sensation of falling, causing Jackie to gasp before the breath was pulled from her lungs. But she didn’t need it. She was looking out at the hallway, and it didn’t take long to realize; she was a shadow. Just like how Papa gets around, She thought, smiling. She flitted down the wall, realizing that anywhere there were shadows, she could go easily, and if she tried she could disconnect herself and walk through the light...but only as a shadow. Jackie wandered down the stairs, hidden as a shadow on the wall, and grinned before flitting silently back up and becoming a solid figure once more. This was how she would let Pitch in. Now she just had to think of a plan that would get all the Guardians in one room, so her Father could take care of them.  
Pain pierced her heart like an arrow. Could she really let them all die? She shook the thought away with a scowl. This had been the plan all along. She could let them die. She would kill them herself if she needed to. She was the Boogeyman’s daughter. She was Pitch’s child and she would help him defeat the Guardians. She was...Jack Frost, Guardian. No! She scolded herself, trying to stay on track. She was Jackie Frost, and she was definitely not a Guardian. Jack’s memories, the tiny bit of him that had helped make her, that was nothing. She was just a nightmare child. Pitch’s child. The Guardians had to die. But still, Jackie felt a bit remorseful as she prepared to execute her grand plan. And when pain again grabbed her heart, it also grabbed her arm, like burning coals against her flesh. The golden sand. She thought, wondering if her sudden feelings of guilt were related to the dream sand still pulsing under her skin. Where else could it have come from? She was made of fear and darkness. How could such a feeling be hers?  
Never mind. A bit of sand didn’t matter. Her plan was sure to work, and Pitch would defeat the Guardians...permanently.


	3. Chapter 3

Leaving minuscule frost crystals in his wake, Jack ascended the staircase up to where Jackie was living. He wandered aimlessly until he noticed a doorway with shadow frost emerging from it. Quickly approaching the room with a gleeful smile, he paused when he heard Jackie’s voice.  
“I’ll let you in today, just as soon as I can get downstairs.” She was saying in a low voice. Jack edged forward as a quiet whinny sounded from inside the room, making his heart skip a beat. It couldn’t be. Peeking around the doorframe, Jack saw Jackie grinning darkly at a nightmare as it neighed again. “I know.” Jackie said to the horse, opening the window so the horse could leave. “Tell Papa to be ready.” With a snort, the nightmare flew away, and Jack stepped into the open doorway.  
“Jackie?” He asked uncertainly, a pit forming in the bottom of his stomach. The girl turned to him, her yellow eyes wide, before collecting herself and putting on a friendly smile.  
“Jack.” She greeted, standing, but Jack backed away, staff pointing at her, ready to attack. “Jack...” She let her voice trail off, and when she spoke again, she was quiet. “Cold and dark do go together quite well, or so I’ve come to find.” She melted into the shadows, and when she spoke her voice seemed to come from all directions. “I’m sorry, Jack.”  
And she was. Regret and guilt gripped her again, but she shook them off and replaced them with pride as Jack turned and ran, just as she’d known he would. Perfect. She flew through the shadows, passing the boy easily as he went to warn North of her treachery. She separated herself from the shadows and blocked his way, and the two of them both took up the same defensive stance.  
“Get out of my way.” Jack said, glancing over the banister and wondering if her could conjure enough wind in the workshop to make it down safely.  
“Jack, listen.” She said, swiping a bit of hair from her face. “I’m not doing this because I want to hurt you. I’m doing this because I’m first and foremost loyal to my Father.”  
“Oh, and that’s why you’d let him in here to destroy this place?” Jack asked angrily. “Yeah, that wouldn’t hurt me at all. You can bet the rest of the Guardians will be here for you soon enough.” With that, he swung himself over the railing, and managed just enough wind to land safely, if it was a little rough. Jackie could hear him calling for North, and she grew smug. She knew she could count on Jack to inadvertently help her, after all, she was quite literally part of him. She knew how his mind worked.  
Dissolving back into the shadows, it only took her a couple of minutes to get to the globe room, where North, Jack, and a dozen or so yetis were waiting for her. She laughed, a dark, spine chilling laugh, and stepped dramatically into view, followed by three nightmares of her own creation. Two wolves of dark sand flanked her, fangs gnashing in anticipation as they stalked silently across the floor beside her. North raised his swords, he looked hurt by her betrayal, but not surprised. Jack had mostly gotten over his pain by now, and glared at her with ice in his eyes. Jackie laid a delicate hand on the head of one wolf, petting it as Bunnymund hopped out of one of his rabbit holes. The Easter bunny took one look at Jackie and her fearlings, and his gaze immediately become a scowl.  
“I knew it.” He growled between his teeth. He took two boomerangs and backed up to stand with North and Jack, never taking his eyes off her for a second. Tooth flew in with a small swarm of fairies behind her, and when she laid eyes on Jackie’s nightmare creatures, she looked almost as hurt as Jack had been. Jackie just stood and leered at them, her eyes flashing a demonic yellow. Tooth hovered beside the other Guardians, and Jackie looked them over.  
Without warning, one of the nightmares whinnied, and Jackie turned to see Sandy floating behind her, rage and pain contending for space in his expression. Jackie’s smirk grew wider, and for one passing second the Guardians all knew that they were most certainly staring at the child of Pitch Black.  
“All five of you in one room. Perfect. This makes it so much easier to get rid of you.” She flashed her perfect teeth at them, and without needing to be cued, her nightmares and wolves all rushed past her at the Guardians. Each of them was quickly drawn into battle with at least two dark creatures, and Jackie walked calmly through the fray to where a large switch rested on the control panel of the globe room. With a glance from Jackie, the nightmare creatures all melted away, allowing for the Guardians’ full attention to be focused on her.  
“No!” They all lunged forward at once as she flipped the switch, and not five seconds later the combined laughter of Pitch and his daughter filled the entire workshop, making the Guardians’ blood run cold. Well, colder, in Jack’s case.  
“Wonderful.” Pitch grinned at his child as he emerged from the shadows. He snapped his fingers, and dozens of nightmares appeared behind him. “See, Jack?” He said to Frost, “That could have been you, last year.” He gestured to where Jackie was now standing atop the globe, hip cocked out to the side, staff in hand.  
“No thanks.” Jack said, firing icy blue sparks out of his staff, which Black avoided easily. Then, with a chuckle, he mocked disbelief.  
“I just realized,” He said, gesturing to the shadows behind him, “I haven’t shown you my darling creations yet. I perfected the technique used to make Jack-”  
“Jackie!” The girl called from above.  
“Yes, Jackie.” Pitch didn’t look too happy to be interrupted, but he shrugged it off. “Anyway, would you like to meet my newest creatures?” He asked the Guardians with a grin. They remained silent, but that didn’t matter much to Pitch. From behind him, dark copies of every Guardian surfaced from the shadows.  
Sandy’s double, like him, was obviously made of pure sand. Bunnymund’s clone had darker fur but was an exact replica in every other aspect. North’s double was a lot like Jackie in that his main differences were the black beard and outfit that mirrored the real North’s appearance. Toothiana found herself facing a dark fairy, feathers a black sheen shimmering with dark sand. Then, Jackie was surprised to see a twin of herself come from the shadows. Yet another Jack Frost, this one a boy, in the same outfit as Jackie, with an identical staff. Jackie scowled. No way would she allow herself to be replaced. As the real Guardians stepped back in horror of Pitch’s creations, seven pairs of yellow eyes flashed gleefully. For every dark Guardian had Pitch’s eyes.  
The fight started with Bunnymund. Obviously. The Guardians were all targeted by their dark reflections, And Pitch joined his daughter on top of the globe, the two of them grinning darkly at the battle below them as it unfolded.  
“Why did you make him?” Jackie asked her Papa asked she pointed with her staff to the dark version of Jack. For once, Pitch didn’t have anything to say. Hurt, Jackie turned away and watched the fighting without another word, conjuring more and more nightmares until the room was a swirling vortex of black sand.  
Barely five minutes passed before the Guardians were overwhelmed. Jack was being held with the other Jack’s staff across his neck, and Tooth’s double was gripping her wings painfully, close to breaking them and when they saw this, the other three Guardians surrendered quickly, allowing themselves to be brought before Pitch.  
“Protecting your friends, how sweet.” Pitch chuckled. Jackie looked over the Guardians, and her eyes met Sandy’s. He was begging her, silently pleading, for her to help them as Pitch formed a dark sword in his hand. She broke his gaze, closing her eyes tightly, but as Pitch walked over to North and raised the sword high above his head, she leaped forward, a whip forming in her hand. She flicked her wrist, wrapping the whip around her Father’s sword and yanking it out of his grasp. It clattered to the ground before dissolving. Pitch froze in surprise, then he leaned threateningly over his daughter. “What. Are. You. Doing?” He asked slowly, glaring daggers at Jackie as the whip in her hand disappeared.  
“You can’t kill them.” She pronounced bravely, but her Father only laughed.  
“And why not?” He jeered, and Jackie drew herself up, tilting her head back to look him in the eye, matching his glare with her own.  
“Because they’re my friends.” This wasn’t quite true. They all hated her, Bunny especially. But she wasn’t about to watch them die.  
Pitch’s eyes narrowed into slits, and without hesitation he grabbed her wrist, throwing her to the ground.  
“Then you can die with them.” He said in a low voice, forming another sword out of nightmare sand. He held it over her, the blade gleaming, but he didn’t have time to ponder whether he could bring himself to hurt her, because before he could do anything a blast of dark ice from her staff hit him in the chest, sending him back painfully. The nightmares surrounding them reared, about to charge her, but Pitch stopped them as Jackie scrambled to her feet. “You’ll pay for that, daughter.” He spat the last word out as if it was poison in his mouth.  
“Don’t bet on it.” In one fluid movement, the girl shot another blast of ice, then lunged herself at the closest dark Guardian, who happened to be the evil Bunnymund. The dark rabbit let go of the normal Bunny to counter her attack, and Bunny threw his boomerangs in different directions. One hit his double and sent the nightmare bunny sprawling, and the second nailed North’s double between the eyes. North, now free of his twin’s grip as well, lashed out with his sword at the evil version of Tooth while Bunny freed Jack and Sandy. The Guardians launched themselves into battle once more, fighting as a team against their dark clones, while Jackie defended herself from Pitch, deflecting blow after blow from each weapon he summoned from the sand. She formed a small knife and launched it toward her Father, the blade whistling as it flew through the air, but Pitch stopped it a split second before it pierced his heart.  
Strands of black sand appeared out of the blue, wrapping tightly around Jackie’s wrist and snaking up her arm, turning her back into nightmare sand while simultaneously dragging her towards Pitch. With a desperate cry, Jackie stretched her hands out to the Guardians, hoping that one of them would come to her aid. But they were too caught up in their own battles to help her. Not that they would. Jackie thought dismally, trying once more to lunge closer to them. This time, a hand gripped her own, and when she looked up, it was Sandy. Black sand started covering his hand, and Jackie tried to pull away, but Sandy wouldn’t let go. A look of steely determination in his eyes, he watched as dream sand quickly engulfed the girl, forcing the dark restraints holding her to let go. His own arm was now completely black, but still he held on tightly to her, and she dropped her staff to reach out her other hand.  
Jack took it; comforting her as Jackie’s form was covered in golden sand, and Pitch only looked on in awe. Jackie writhed in pain as the sand burrowed into her, joining the original veins under her pale skin, slowly forcing the nightmare sand away as it was crowded out. Sandy finally released her arm as a small flash of black light emanated from the girl, and when the light abated Jackie could see that the battle had stopped. Everyone, light and dark alike, was staring at her with wide eyes. Breathing shakily, Jackie fell to her knees, letting her white hair fall in front of her face.  
White hair? With a gasp, Jackie swiftly made a patch of normal white ice on the ground, staring at her reflection in shock. Her hair had turned white, save for one tiny black streak along the side, and her eyes had...inverted. They were now the same blue as Jack’s, with a tiny rim of yellow around the outside. Her skin was still pale, but it no longer had the telling grey tint that suggested it to be made of nightmare sand. The golden streaks had disappeared as well. She looked up at Sandy, who was brushing the last remaining fleck of dark sand off his sleeve with a triumphant grin.  
Jackie ran her fingers over the ground, noticing with confusion that her frost was still a bit shadowy looking, and her staff was still black when she reached for it, but when she tried to conjure a nightmare nothing happened. Grinning as she stood and turned to her where Pitch had been not a moment ago, Jackie raised her staff...but her Father was gone, as were the nightmares that hadn’t been defeated.  
“He ran away.” She muttered with a small chuckle. Without looking back, she walked as quickly as she could to the switch she had pulled earlier. She pulled it back up, insuring that her Father couldn’t return. The Guardians didn’t move when she turned back to them, but Jack smiled when she locked eyes with him.  
“Thank you.” North said flatly, and she nodded acknowledgement. When Bunnymund approached her, she was afraid that he was still angry (as he well should be) but her only stuck his paw out for a handshake. Jackie obliged, a small smile of relief playing around her lips as he backed away and Toothiana fluttered up to give her a quick hug, which Jackie awkwardly returned. Sandy shook her hand, and they both gave sighs of relief when nothing happened to either of them.  
“I should go.” She said without feeling, walking away and feeling the silence hang over her all the way outside.  
“Wait, Jackie!” Jack’s voice rang out, and she turned to face him. “Don’t be a stranger, alright?” He said with a smile. Jackie nodded, warmth spreading through her as she opened the door and flew out into the clear sky.


End file.
